Policy Punchline

Given the tragic incident of the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent protests, it’s probably the right time to talk about protests. What are the effective ways to protest? How have the shape and form of protests transformed throughout the past decades as black people fought for their rights? And certainly, how justified is violence or how effective is non-violence in protests? Unfortunately, some of the protests recently have contained violence and looting, and President Trump even threatened to deploy troops on the protestors, further escalating the tension. Many have accused the protestors for not doing it “right,” but is there a right way to do it? It’s really not as if when black people protested in nonviolent ways, such as kneeling during the NFL anthem, they were embraced with open arms by those in power! So, are people simply hiding behind the attacks on the “means,” when what they truly oppose is the argument itself that BLM? Whether violent or not, how should we think about the role of suffe